Buscando un lugar en el mundo: la Sociedad de Naciones y la inserción internacional de América Latina
Buscando un lugar en el mundo: la Sociedad de Naciones y la inserción internacional de América Latina

Summary/Abstract: This article explores how the participation of Latin American experts and politicians in the League of Nations altered the view that Latin Americans held about their place in the world. Before World War I, Latin American elites anxiously sought to be recognized as part of the Western World, the so-called civilised world. The war to some extent altered this perspective and the European-centred civilization lost its lustre. Yet Latin Americans still believed they were part of the modern and civilized societies. Most Latin American elites enthusiastically embraced the idea of the League of Nations and Wilson was a figure of reference for them. This meant a defence of the sovereignty of small nations but also a position of detachment from the aspiration of colonial territories. However, the participation of Latin Americans in the committees of the League led them to appreciate the Eurocentric character of the institution and to shape new ideas about international hierarchies which paved the way for a future convergence with Asian and African colonial territories.

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